Static-XStart a War

Static-X return, bloodless and crisp as ever. Vocals vacillate between tuneful bellow and tuneless bark, digitally distorted down-tuned guitars grind, taut snares snap, and the occasional synths arpeggiate. This almost prototypically nu-metal album is respectfully but incongruously dedicated to the memory of murdered Pantera/Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell, shot and killed by a crazed fan in late 2004. Whereas Dimebags blues-inflected Southern thrash achieved its weight through a kind of loose, cocky swagger, Static-X aims for lock-step precision. The result is stasis. The production is successful to the extent that it distracts from the not infrequent silliness of Wayne Statics lyrics. Particularly grievous is "Just in Case, a kind of belated nu-metal "Hollaback Girl, in which Static asserts that he "dont wanna be a just in case boy. Here as elsewhere, Statics shit is bananas.
(Warner)